UPDATE: 7:39 p.m.: For the second time in little over a month, people at Mason Christian Village are hoping and praying for the safe return of an elderly resident who went missing.
Late Friday morning, Melvin Fitzharris, 83, left his residence in the retirement community on Western Row Road. He was last seen around noon at the U.S. Post Office on Reading Road. As of 7 p.m. Friday, there was no sign of him, said Brian Gibboney, spokesman for Mason Christian Village.
“We’re praying. We’re a tight community,” Gibboney said. “We’re just diligently working with the police to make sure he makes it home safely.”
Fitzharris is among about 250 people who live in the village’s independent-living section, where residents come and go as they please and receive only minimal services, such as yard upkeep, home maintenance and social activities, Gibboney explained.
Likewise, a man who went missing last month, Thomas “Tim” Willwerth, 93, also was an independent-living resident, Gibboney said. That situation ended tragically: Willwerth died Sept. 6 when his vehicle crashed in the Chesaning area of Saginaw County, about 75 miles northwest of Detroit, just hours after he was reported missing.
Everyone is counting on a happy outcome for Fitzharris, Gibboney said. His friends and family are “in high spirits that he will make it home at any minute,” Gibboney said Friday evening.
Although both Fitzharris and Willwerth were diagnosed with conditions that could affect their thinking ability, both also have competent spouses who helped look out for them, Gibboney said.
Fitzharris suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and does not drive on a regular basis, a city news release said. He was driving a light blue 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis with a dark blue top and bearing Ohio license plate EF29. Fitzharris was last seen wearing dark brown pants and a tan sweater over a maroon shirt.
If you see him, officials ask that you contact Mason police through Warren County Dispatch at 513-925-2525.
ORIGINAL STORY – Police are looking for a 83-year-old Mason man with Alzheimer’s disease who went missing early Friday.
Melvin Fitzharris was last seen around noon at the U.S. Post Office on Reading Road wearing dark brown pants and a tan sweater over a maroon shirt. He’s a resident at Mason Christian Village on Western Row Road.
He was driving a light blue 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis with a dark blue top with Ohio plates EF29.
Police say Fitzharris does not drive on a regular basis because of his medical condition.
Anyone who spots Fitzharris should call Mason police through the Warren County Communications Center, 513-925-2525.
